Hero For A Day
by Alori Kesi Aldercy
Summary: After a showdown, Wuya throws Kimiko into a raging river in vengance for losing. It's winter, and cold weather reigns. Kimiko has to fight for her life as the river sweeps her away. The guys can't save her. So who does? A pair of oneshots.
1. Kimiko

**Edit**(many hours after posting): Went in and fixed some stuff. Checked stats. 51 hits. -sob- 2 reviews. -sobsob- So on average only four percent of people review around here? Thanks to those who have!

This is a one-shot, but there _may_ be a counterpart that will be added as a second chapter. Don't get your hopes up. :P

You can take this as romance or not. It doesn't matter.

Just so you know, I personally really like how this one came out. :)

* * *

**+Hero For a Day+**

Kimiko held her breath as she plunged headfirst into the icy water below. Wuya's perversely happy laughter faded into the background of Kimiko's mind as she struggled to turn herself upright and stay afloat in the fast moving river water. Survival was on the forefront of her thoughts. She opened her mouth and took a breath. In reward, her lungs were met briefly with air. Biting, cold water swamped her after that one, short breath, the current continuing to viciously pull her along. The water filled her mouth, throat and lungs so she could no longer breathe. Beginning to panic, she choked and coughed as she flailed about, trying to put the riverbank in her sight. She felt lost and confused. Her vision blurred. She blinked frantically to clear water from her eyes as her whole body slammed into a rock. She gasped as she remained pressed against it only for a moment. Her fingers clung at its smooth, mossy surface and were ripped away. She continued downstream. Her body began to sink. She raised her arms in one last desperate plea to no one. This was it.

Hands grasped Kimiko's wrists. Her entire body wrenched from the waters, she felt her skirt clutch against her legs in a chilly breeze as she lifted into the air. Her mind was hazy. She had not the strength to even raise her head to see who her savior was. Was she flying or falling? How? She felt the ground barely under her feet and collapsed when the hands suddenly released her. What had been a steady humming, buzzing sound began to sputter then stopped. She lay gagging on the ground, water draining from her lungs in a bodily instinct as she curled over on her side.

An irritating, female voice screeched nearby.

A sigh-heavy, male voice—almost whining—defended.

Then a hand, somewhat pawing, touched her shoulder and turned her over, onto her back. Kimiko blearily opened and shut her eyes. She was still too dazed to clearly see anything.

Another hand, trembling, touched her face and pushed her soggy hair out of it.

"Breathe, ok?" Urged the male voice.

The irritating female voice returned—lower—sounding a bit worried. "Let's go now that you've ruined everything. The others are coming."

"Just gimme a sec." Said the male voice.

Kimiko drew a heavy, hard breath and coughed again. Something was lain against her skin; it was a bit rough, but warm.

A cry was uttered by the female. "No! Don't do that! Let's go! Are you an evil boy genius or not?"

"Alright, alright! Coming, you old hag." The male huffed.

The cloth was tucked under her chin carefully.

"If I had my powers I'd smite you right now, you stupid boy."

"Well, you don't. So, c'mon, let's go. I'm cold now."

The hands drew away from Kimiko's body, leaving her tingling and still confused. She could hear the sputtering, buzzing sound starting again. The noise overshadowed the voices. Were those helicopter blades? The argument began to seem distant, as did the noise.

Kimiko opened her eyes and turned her head, trying to follow the sounds as her body shivered in protest to movement. She barely caught sight of a figure floating away in the sky carrying another. They were too far off to recognize. But maybe one of them had been Wuya? The female voice had sounded so alike to the witch's, after all.

The Japanese girl closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She remembered the showdown with Jack and winning, with Wuya grabbing her arm from behind afterwards and flinging her into the freezing river. Kimiko's parka had remained in the witch's hand. It was winter. The river had iced along the edges last night so even with this cloth over her body, the ground was cold beneath her.

The water still soaking her was cold too.

Kimiko struggled to place her thoughts. Were the others okay?

Her fellow monks had been desperately fighting off a swarm of vengeful Jack Bots which had attacked after Jack had lost the showdown—her friends had been unable to come to her aid. Someone had saved her obviously, but who, if not them?

The hero couldn't have been-?

Loud voices and heavy footsteps pounded towards her. A very different set of hands, more slender and strong this time than the others before gripped her shoulders and shook her. She opened her eyes. Three anxious faces crowded her view.

"Kimiko! We were more worried about you than cows in a Kansas tornado." Clay said, his face close to hers. He felt her forehead with a warm hand. "We're awfully glad you're alright."

Omi leaned down and pressed his head against her chest. "Oh! How good it is to hear you heart still pounding inside of you!"

Kimiko lifted a hand up, reaching for reality, she thought, and it was grabbed and held tightly. Whatever lay over her was pushed back by this movement and the cold, winter air slipped in under it. She opened her mouth and croaked out what she wanted to be words. "Hey, guys. I'm ok."

Raimundo squeezed Kimiko's hand reassuringly. "You are now, at least." He kneaded his brow together as he fingered the cloth laying over Kimiko. "Spicer's jacket? But I thought…"

Kimiko turned her eyes downward and with help from Clay sat up. She leaned against his arm as he supported her. She too fingered the clothing curiously. "I guess so. I heard two people talking. Wuya and Jack apparently didn't agree about what she did after I won the showdown. It's his jacket, though I didn't notice before."

"That Spicer's such a pickle." Clay said with a sigh. "But I guess it was good for us this time 'round."

Omi wrapped his little, yellow arms around Kimiko's neck. Smiling she touched the side of his face with her hand as he hugged her. Omi laughed. "We will have to thank Jack later—an honor to him for the honor he has done us. He has given us a most precious gift today."

"Good grief, Omi. That's more 'pickle' than Spicer is. Thank him? It's his partner that threw Kimi' off the cliff in the first place!" Raimundo objected loudly. "I'd rather stay the heck away from those two—for good!"

Kimiko shook her head. "I don't know, Raimundo. I'm not sure why or how, but now I owe Jack my life." Her eyelids drooped in protection against the sun as she looked up to the sky where Jack and Wuya had disappeared. "We should just pretend nothing happened. That's what Jack's going to do."

Omi clapped his hands together. "Oh, that humble Jack Spicer! Always he is pretending to be so bad and yet he cannot help but do the right thing. Honor belongs to him today."

"No kidding." Kimiko mumbled. "Help me up, guys. It's time for us to go home."

Weary, the foursome trudged up the riverside. The weariest, a girl, glanced skyward one last time.

She had been saved by Jack Spicer—Evil Boy Genius Extraordinaire.

Who was, apparently, hero for a day.

* * *

R and R; thanks. :) 


	2. Jack

I indulge myself with this, really.

This was supposed to be a one-shot, but I'm unable to resist doing more with it. Same story. Different POV. My sis says it's better, I'm not sure.

If this goes well, maybe more. R +R at the end, folks.

**

* * *

**

+Hero For A Day+

Sighing, Jack stuffed his gloved hands deep down into the pockets of his jacket and walked away from the celebration that had begun amongst four Xiaolin monks. They had beat him again. No big surprise there, really. Head drooping, Jack wandered back to his accomplice, Wuya, who was waiting for him twenty feet downriver. A breeze picked up for a moment and he shivered. Why did winter have to be so cold? He already felt gloomy enough after losing that the clouds smoldering in the sky and the chilly gusts of wind that were frequenting the area only made him feel more miserable. He looked up, shoulders beginning to sag as he saw the Heylin witch, hands on hips, glaring angrily at him only another foot away. His mouth twitched worriedly as she continued to stare.

Losing a showdown when you're teamed up with Wuya is not the best idea or situation, Jack knew, yet here he was back to the usual. Wuya had begged Jack to work with her, he had relented, had been defeated, and subsequently was sorry—again—that he had ever met the temperamental female. Jack never thought of himself as a glutton for punishment, but remembering how often he had been proved wrong, he was changing his mind.

Jack forced a smile onto his face. It was always best to cover up as much as you could with Wuya. "Wanna go home now?"

"You lost the showdown, Jack." Wuya said flatly. She was apparently in no mood to overlook anything that had happened that afternoon.

"Yeah. So?" Jack said, almost whimpering. "That's a surprise?"

Wuya's eyes deadened. "You lost it because you're an imbecile."

"I don't think that's exactly true." Jack offered before shrinking back with quick whimper. The phrase 'you're an imbecile' generally led up to unpleasant things with Wuya—a sign that their conversation, and team-up, were going downhill.

"It's mostly true, and that's all that matters!" Wuya said, her voice rising sharply. "You said it would be easier for you to win the showdown because you had your stupid helicopter toy with you, but you lost anyway."

Jack sighed. "My Heli-Bot is not a stupid toy. What I said was that I could fly to the Shen Gong Wu using my Heli-Bot, but I didn't say it was impossible for me to lose." He lifted his chin. "Besides, I meant easier compared to you."

Angrily, Wuya gave a cry and lunged for her partner in villainy. She'd had enough of Jack and was regretting ever bothering with him. She only did because Chase, the Heylin that had turned her into flesh from her ghost form, wouldn't help her get any Shen Gong Wu. In fact, normally, he seemed quite eager to keep her away from them. Chase was never one to like other people to have power—even just a little. She'd been without her witch powers as a ghost, and still was as flesh thanks to Chase.

Jack squealed as Wuya's long nails brushed dangerously close to him. He turned and fled further down the riverbank, but stopped when he saw she didn't follow. Again, the belief he had become a glutton for punishment crossed his mind. "Look, you said it was ok for me to do it instead of you. Don't blame me for that decision."

Wuya raised a fist and shook it at Jack, evoking another squeal. "You're going to wish you hadn't said that."

A loud cough interrupted the argument.

"You guys are really pathetic. You lose a showdown and all you do afterwards is argue about whose fault it is. We could've kicked your butts _again_ by now if we'd wanted."

Wuya and Jack turned, their attention caught by the heavily accented, male voice.

The Xiaolin monks stood only feet away, poised as if ready for battle. The dragon of wind, Raimundo, stood at the forefront, a smirk on his face.

"Is that so, Raimundo?" Wuya hissed, her voice lowered. "You were so busy celebrating Kimiko's victory a moment ago, I could've sworn you weren't really paying attention anymore."

Kimiko inched forward. Her arms were raised in a firm, defensive position, but she could still feel herself waiver on her feet. Her head was pounding from the earlier showdown, but she forced herself to remain steady in appearance. She wouldn't show her weariness in front of Wuya for fear of being chided or teased about it. "If we got distracted, we came back to attention long before you two did."

The shortest of the four, Omi, nodded furiously. "Yes, indeed. We would never be so foolish as to not inspect our rears."

"Watch our backs, little partner." Clay said with sigh. He chuckled to himself seconds later, unable to resist the humor that their smallest member provided unwittingly.

Omi glanced behind him to the larger boy, a quizzical expression plastered on his face. "Of course; I said that."

Wuya turned her head and looking over her shoulder with a roguish smile on her face, she nodded to Jack. "Time to go. We have better things to do."

Jack snapped back to attention, the foot he had been dragging aimlessly on the ground stamping down—the toe of his boot now mud covered. "Distraction time?" Jack lifted his arm and pressed a button on his wrist watch. "Got it! Jack-Bots, attack!"

The four monks, stepped back defensively first, then sprang forward as the mass of bots flew out from the river-side shrubbery. Crying out their various attack types—earth, wind, fire, and water—they began to systematically destroy the oncoming robots.

Wide-eyed at the explosions, Jack backed away. He winced as another of his bots came to pieces. "I just fixed that one last night." He mumbled. Slowly, he backed up further, keeping the battle, and Wuya, still standing on the other side of it, in his sight.

Jack could see he had been entirely forgotten about. He had always thought that was the one problem with a distraction. "See you around, Xiaolin losers." He yelled—as if he hoped they would notice as he turned and ran away. He kept up his speed for a few paces then stopped and looked back. No Wuya had followed yet. He grimaced. "Guess she's stuck over there." He said as he wrinkled his brow. "And she claims I'm stupid."

Clearly—and to some disappointment—no monks had followed him either.

Jack's eyes turned to the river as he waited for his partner to reach him. He was headed downstream, but the river was moving that direction much more quickly than he was. He sighed. Yesterday's rains had surged it and last night's freezing temperatures had frost-bitten the edges. He gingerly pressed his foot on a piece of ice and chuckled as it cracked. "I broke a puddle." He said in amusement, but his shoulders drooped as laughter left him; bored again. He watched the fight out of the corner of his eye. It had moved further upstream and away from the river while he had been distracted. The sun was overcast above, but still glowed brightly enough to annoy. Jack flipped down his goggles with a sniff. "Wuya had better show up soon or I'm just going to leave her here." He crossed his arms over his chest self-importantly. He stood in silence for a moment and began to seriously consider leaving Wuya as a good option, but a movement near the riverbank caught Jack's eye. He flipped up his goggles in surprise.

"Geez, that witch really does need some anger management—not to mention abuse therapy. She just threw Kimiko in the river." As the self-proclaimed 'Evil Boy Genius' realized a few things about the situation at hand, he took a few fearful steps backwards. "Kimiko's not getting out of the water and her monk pals are too busy with my bots to help her. She's going to drown if somebody—Uh, oh." Jack flipped down his goggles in an instantaneous decision. He took off running downriver, keeping his eye on Kimiko's flailing body as the current pushed her nearer to him. In his peripheral vision, he could see Wuya running towards him wildly, glee written all over her face. He turned his eyes forward and activated his Heli-Bot by the remote in his wristwatch. In his imagination, he could see what kind of face Wuya would be making now and how she would be pausing as she ran—surprised by his sudden take off. Jack smiled. He flew forward, eyes on the river, then arched his flight path in confusion. Having been distracted by thoughts of Wuya's anger, he'd lost sight of Kimiko. Wait—she was clinging to a rock. Or now she wasn't

The Japanese girl was dragged from her stone lifeline by the current and Jack pressed his speed to catch up to her. Her arms lifted over her head and Jack knew he only had a split second to complete the maneuver. He whimpered, actually in fear of his sudden burst of courage, as he flew lower to the water and extended his hands. His fingers brushed hers, he winced, then in determination, his hands stretched further and closed around her wrists. Up, up, up, Jack felt his Heli-Bot sputtering and whirring vigorously in complaint as he pushed it to its limit to pull Kimiko from the river. His eyes widened in alarm. What was he doing?

With Kimiko dangling below him, Jack was back to shore in brief seconds. Still in shock, he barely paid attention to how high he was as he let go of the girl's wrists. Not too high, luckily. He landed gently as she crumpled to the ground. With a beep, his Heli-Bot shut down and retracted. At his feet, Kimiko curled onto her side, choking. Water drained from her lungs in violent heaves that shook her body utterly.

Jack felt his fists curl as he stared at her. Why had he done this? What had he been thinking?

Wuya's screech of protest grated in his ear as she ran up. "What do you think you're doing, Jack?" The witch looked wild and furious, her bright red hair blown every which way about her head and her cheeks flushed from the run.

"Whatever I feel like." Jack said pulling his goggles up from his eyes. He eyed Wuya carefully as he knelt down beside Kimiko. The witch was silent for the moment, but he knew the shock wouldn't last long.

Jack touched Kimiko's shoulder, then more firmly grasped it and turned her over onto her back. The girl's face was pallid; Jack tried in vain to swallow the lump in his throat as he pushed her dark, damp hair out of her face. She blinked at him, but seemed more unconscious than awake. "I didn't save you for nothing." Jack said under his breath. "Breathe, ok?" He urged more loudly. He felt a vague sense of helplessness, but pushed it out of his mind.

"Let's go now that you've ruined everything. The others will be coming." Wuya stepped forward anxiously. She looked behind her, but they had landed at the bottom of a hill just tall enough to conceal them—and their view.

"Just gimme a sec." Said Jack, insisting. His eyes searched Kimiko's body and he drew back a little as she took a sudden, deep breath and coughed violently. He glanced up at Wuya. "What did you do with her coat? I know this sweater wasn't the only warm thing she was wearing before."

"Left it behind. Clumsy me." Wuya said covering her smile with a hand. The witch's eyes shone with cruelty as she watched Kimiko continuing to wheeze and shiver.

Jack scratched his head; nose scrunching up and mouth turning downwards into a frown. His expression smoothed however—a decision reached. Wordlessly, Jack drew off his own black coat. His Heli-Bot clattered to the ground—pulled off of his shoulders along with his movements. He draped the coat over Kimiko and bent lower as a hand struck the back of his head.

"No! Don't do that! Let's go! Are you an evil boy genius or not?"

Jack huffed and whimpered as he collected back up his Heli-Bot and put it on. "Alright, alright! Coming, you old hag." He narrowed his eyes and carefully tucked the coat under Kimiko's chin instead of standing as Wuya had expected.

Fuming at Jack's gesture, Wuya, in an attempt at intimidation, moved forward. She towered over him angrily "If I had my powers I'd smite you right now, you stupid boy."

"Well, you don't. So, c'mon, let's go." Jack said, then emitted a soft whimper. "I'm cold now." His hands drew away from Kimiko's shoulders as he stood. He wrapped his arms around himself briefly and he moodily looked to his coat. He pressed a button on his watch and his Heli-Bot emerged again. "We can leave."

"Can't we throw her back in the river first?" Wuya asked miserably.

"No! I didn't save her just so you could do that." Indignantly, Jack tugged at his red, sleeveless Frankenstein shirt. "I'm the head of this evil duo and I say she gets to live this time."

Wuya sighed and held out her arms, a sign she was prepared to depart. "Tell me, Jack, why did you save her?"

Jack stuck out his bottom lip. "Because I'm the evil genius and you took too much of my spotlight." He scratched his chin with his right index finger thoughtfully then shrugged. "Nothing else to it."

Jack's lips pressed tightly together as Kimiko stirred. It was time to get out of here; and to be gone before the female monk fully awoke. He wrapped his arms around Wuya's waist as she wrapped her own around his neck. Stomach turning, he sniffled miserably as her long nails dug into his back. At this point, he understood only that he didn't really like Wuya and not at all why he had saved the dragon of fire. In his mind, and by what he had convinced himself of long ago, he should hate the female monk far more than the Heylin witch.

Yet, he didn't.

"Jack,"

"Yeah?" The Goth boy glanced down as he lifted off the ground with Wuya in his arms. Trees raced past below as they headed south.

"You're an imbecile."

Jack groaned. It always came back to this. "Can't I just be a hero for a day?"

"That's not very evil."

"It's not?"

"No."

"So you really think I did a good thing back there?" Jack's mouth twitched as he hoped for a negative—'no'—response.

Wuya nodded her head and looked out and away to the direction they were headed in. "It certainly wasn't an evil thing."

"I could do an evil thing right now and drop you." Said Jack, incensed. He blinked his eyes. His cheeks felt stiff against the cold wind that was beating against him as they flew along; his arms felt immobile. Wuya, thankfully, protected most of his body from the cold air.

Wuya sneered at the boy carrying her. "I'd come back to life and kill you in your sleep if you did that, Jack." She watched his eyes widen slightly.

"You can't do that." Jack said in protest, worry rising in his chest. "You're just trying to psyche me out." He shook his head twice to make his goggles flip down. His eyes stopped burning in the wind.

"How do you know? I could at least come back as a ghost and torture you by repeatedly floating in and out of your body," Wuya said with a laugh, "Just like the good old days."

"Hey! Don't, please?" Jack begged. He all too easily remembered the feeling of his body being passed through by the ghostly Wuya, and they were not pleasant memories. "I won't drop you."

"Good decision." Wuya muttered. She stared blankly out at the overcast sky then turned and eyed Jack's Heli-Bot distastefully. "Remind me again why we didn't bring your jet?"

"I broke it." Jack said; head drooping sorrowfully. "I was trying to upgrade it to version 4000."

"Right." Wuya glanced down towards the ground then looked back to Jack. "That means you're still an imbecile."

Jack felt his arms stiffen around Wuya in anger. She had brought that up again and he wasn't in the mood for it. "This is the last time I work with you."

"Ha. You can't help but work with me." Said Wuya, her teeth gently baring in a small snarl. "You're useless on your own."

Jack felt his mind jerk backwards through time. The shape of two desperately outstretched hands crossed directly in front of his mind's eye—his own hands jerked as he recalled the feeling of pulling a body from the river. "I saved Kimiko on my own." He said softly.

"Jack,"

"Yeah?" Jack refused to look at Wuya as his lip quivered. He knew she was staring at him and he knew why.

Wuya spoke with a barely hint of pity in her voice. "You're in the wrong business."

"I do what I want," Jack said, his eyes shutting behind his goggles indignantly, "And that's all that matters."

* * *

Oooh. Haha. I got five reviews for the first part. That's exciting. :) 

Maybe I can get more this time 'round? Pwetty please? This one was longer and harder to create an ending for.

R and R. I command you. :o


End file.
